WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), released the following statement after the General Services Administration (GSA) failed to deliver a plan to the committee regarding the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) headquarters.

“It is unacceptable that the GSA has failed to meet the deadline that they committed to,” said Barrasso. “Just last week, the head of the agency assured me that I would receive a specific plan for the FBI headquarters project on time. The men and women of the FBI, who keep America safe, require an office building that meets their needs. It’s past time for the GSA to provide the committee with some real answers.”

On Aug. 2, 2017, the EPW Committee held an oversight hearing titled “FBI Headquarters Consolidation Project – What Happened and What’s Next.” The hearing examined why the GSA cancelled the FBI headquarters project in July 2017. This cancellation followed 12 years of the GSA requesting a new FBI headquarters due to the current headquarters building being insufficient.

At the hearing, leadership of the GSA and the FBI committed to return to Congress within 120 days with a plan for the FBI headquarters. The hearing featured testimony from Michael Gelber, then-acting commissioner of the Public Building Service at the GSA; and Richard Haley, assistant director and chief financial officer of the Finance Division at the FBI. Leadership of the GSA and the FBI subsequently requested an additional 60 days to prepare a plan for the committee.

On Dec. 1, 2017, Chairman Barrasso and Ranking Member Tom Carper (D-DE) sent a letter to the agency emphasizing the importance of the committee receiving a thorough plan from the GSA. “The deadline for this report is November 30, but the committee, at your request, is willing to consider extending the deadline by 60 days to ensure that you have sufficient time to consider different financing options for the project,” wrote Barrasso and Carper. The senators requested that the plan be submitted to the EPW Committee by Jan. 29, 2018.

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